Saturday, January 26, 2008 Training facility to produce 5T welders for local industry, overseas
CEBU will soon produce some 5,000 skilled welders with the completion of a training facility owned by a metal fabrication company.
Edward Dampor Sr., Brilliant Metal Craft and Machine Design (BMC) general manager, said construction has already started for the training facility that can accommodate up to 5,000 students.
The facility, estimated to cost about P150 million to P200 million, will rise on a 450-square meter property of BMC in C. Borces St., Cebu City.
The establishment of the training school, which will offer day and night classes, is funded by the International Humanitarian Foundation, Dampor said.
BMC runs a similar training facility but it can only accommodate about 60 trainees.
Dampor said he foresees a need for more welding schools in the country, especially with the growing demand for welders here and abroad.
He said BMC has sent two batches of welders to Canada, Denmark and Japan, among others. Some BMC graduates are also working at the shipbuilding firm Tsuneishi Heavy Industries in Balamban, Cebu and at Magsaysay Shipping Co.
Poverty alleviation
“Welding is one of the ways to alleviate poverty” and help improve the economy as overseas Filipino welders would be sending money to their families here, he said.
He said foreign companies prefer Filipino welders because of their reputation as highly-skilled workers who are quick to follow instructions.
Welders earn about $600 to $2,005 a month overseas, he added.
Dampor said the future three-story training facility will also produce graduates who will be able to operate various machines, such as the centralized gas pipeline system that BMC developed.
“Hospitals are now providing oxygen through centralized pipes. Patients will just have to press a button from the wall and the oxygen will come out. No subject in college teaches the skill to maintain that system,” he said.
“Hospitals hire engineers but they are not experts on this system. BMC will produce skilled graduates for the hospitals,” he said in an interview.
The imported centralized gas pipeline system developed by BMC is used by more than 20 hospitals and health clinics in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Dampor said the system allows hospitals to save P500 for every cylinder of oxygen as it reduces the amount of oxygen left in the tanks from 15 percent to five percent.
Dampor, who has invented the system himself, is the first recipient of the Technical Education for Skills and Development Authority (Tesda) 7 “Galing Pinoy” award.
The award is given to Filipino workers who serve as inspiration and model to other workers through their significant accomplishments and contribution to the community.
Dampor is a graduate of Tesda 7’s course in basic welding. He landed a job in Dubai, where he advanced his welding experience by working with Dubai Aluminum Co. Inc. When he saved enough money he came back to the country to establish his own company, BMC.
Dampor also developed a machine that disinfects and shred infectious sharps from hospitals, such as syringe needles. (MMM)
